Looking to buy a new laptop

  • Thread starter Richard Carpenter
  • Start date
R

Richard Carpenter

For a while my wife and I have shared my current laptop (Dell Inspiron
6000D), and it's worked out ok. However, lately she's kind of caught
the bug and finally started getting a feel for all the wonderful
things she can do on a computer from getting some of her office tasks
done at home to processing and publishing all those digital photos and
videos we've taken over the years. As such, she's begun monopolizing
the laptop a bit, to the point where it's basically her PC now. I
still have my desktop, which is a very strong machine, but I still
frequently need the mobility of a laptop.

That said, I was wondering what some of you folks are using and what
recommendations you may have for a .Net developer on the go. Following
are some of the requirements/preferences I would have:

- Must run Visual Studio 2008 and run it well (or as well as can be
expected :p )
- Must excel at running Microsoft virtual PC environments
- While a 15" screen wouldn't be completely out of the question, I
need something I can carry along to developer events, seminars,
training, etc. without getting a hernia. I've considered going as
small as 13.3" for sheer portability, but I'm thinking 14.1" might be
the best balance between portability and comfortable viewing/suitable
development IDE real estate.
- Must have an express card slot (for broadband internet access card,
eSATA card, etc.)
- Long battery life would certainly be a bonus, but I will likely
often be tethered to an external HDD, so that's not quite as important
to me as it might be for some.
- *Must* be affordable. Price is a definite issue on this one.
- Light to moderate gaming would be a nice bonus, but I don't have any
expectations in that area.

I primarily do VB.Net, C#, ASP.Net and SQL Server development.

Would anyone care to offer up any tips or insight you might have?
Maybe even brag about that laptop that serves *you* so well in your
application development efforts? As it stands, I'm looking at some of
the offerings from Dell (XPS 1330 and the 14.1" display version) and
HP.

Thanks!
 
M

Michael A. Covington

Just one suggestion: A wide screen, 1200x800 pixels or thereabouts, is very
convenient and a good compromise.
 
R

Richard Carpenter

Just one suggestion:  A wide screen, 1200x800 pixels or thereabouts, is very
convenient and a good compromise.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that widescreen is a requirement. Thanks!
 
D

DSK Chakravarthy

Dude..

Am using Dell Latitutde D830 model. The only one unsatisfactory issue is the
OS. Vista Business is slower and hogs my 1.3GB RAM, and am left with only
less than 1 GB to run with.

Apart of that, am happy with this laptop. Give a try

HTH
 
R

Richard Carpenter

Dude..

Am using Dell Latitutde D830 model. The only one unsatisfactory issue is the
OS. Vista Business  is slower and hogs my 1.3GB RAM, and am left with only
less than 1 GB to run with.

Apart of that, am happy with this laptop. Give a try

HTH

It does. That's the kind of information I was shooting for. Thanks.
 
I

Ignacio Machin ( .NET/ C# MVP )

For a while my wife and I have shared my current laptop (Dell Inspiron
6000D), and it's worked out ok. However, lately she's kind of caught
the bug and finally started getting a feel for all the wonderful
things she can do on a computer from getting some of her office tasks
done at home to processing and publishing all those digital photos and
videos we've taken over the years. As such, she's begun monopolizing
the laptop a bit, to the point where it's basically her PC now. I
still have my desktop, which is a very strong machine, but I still
frequently need the mobility of a laptop.

That said, I was wondering what some of you folks are using and what
recommendations you may have for a .Net developer on the go. Following
are some of the requirements/preferences I would have:

- Must run Visual Studio 2008 and run it well (or as well as can be
expected :p )
- Must excel at running Microsoft virtual PC environments
- While a 15" screen wouldn't be completely out of the question, I
need something I can carry along to developer events, seminars,
training, etc. without getting a hernia. I've considered going as
small as 13.3" for sheer portability, but I'm thinking 14.1" might be
the best balance between portability and comfortable viewing/suitable
development IDE real estate.
- Must have an express card slot (for broadband internet access card,
eSATA card, etc.)
- Long battery life would certainly be a bonus, but I will likely
often be tethered to an external HDD, so that's not quite as important
to me as it might be for some.
- *Must* be affordable. Price is a definite issue on this one.
- Light to moderate gaming would be a nice bonus, but I don't have any
expectations in that area.

I primarily do VB.Net, C#, ASP.Net and SQL Server development.

Would anyone care to offer up any tips or insight you might have?
Maybe even brag about that laptop that serves *you* so well in your
application development efforts? As it stands, I'm looking at some of
the offerings from Dell (XPS 1330 and the 14.1" display version) and
HP.

Thanks!

I got an Apple :)
 

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